Jordan Binnington made 25 saves as the St. Louis Blues defeated the visiting Minnesota Wild 5-1 Thursday to win their first-round Western Conference playoff series in six games.
The Blues advance to the second round to face the Colorado Avalanche, who swept them out of the playoffs last season in the first round.
Nick Leddy, Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Bozak, Vladimir Tarasenko and Colton Parayko scored for the Blues. David Perron had two assists.
Matt Dumba scored for the Wild. Minnesota goaltender Cam Talbot, making his first start in place of Marc-Andre Fleury, stopped 22 shots.
Bruins 5, Hurricanes 2
Boston forced a deciding Game 7 in its Eastern Conference first-round series, scoring twice in the second period and three times in the third to defeat visiting Carolina. Game 7 is Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.
Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle each had a goal and an assist, Derek Forbort, Erik Haula and Curtis Lazar also scored and Tomas Nosek dished out two assists for Boston. Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman made 23 saves in his fourth consecutive start.
Andrei Svechnikov scored both Hurricanes goals, including one on the power play. Antti Raanta recorded 29 saves in the loss.
Lightning 4, Maple Leafs 3 (OT)
Brayden Point scored at 18:04 overtime and Tampa Bay defeated visiting Toronto to force a seventh game in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Point, who also had an assist, scored his second goal of the best-of-seven series when he knocked in a rebound during a scrum around the goal. The tally occurred after Toronto came close at the other end.
Toronto overcame a 2-0 deficit with three consecutive second-period goals. Auston Matthews started the surge, and John Tavares completed it by scoring twice 26 seconds apart in the final minute.
Oilers 4, Kings 2
Evander Kane scored twice in a three-point game as Edmonton forced a deciding Game 7 in its Western Conference first-round playoff series by beating host Los Angeles.
With the score tied 2-2, Tyson Barrie scored the game-winning goal with 5:10 remaining in regulation when he jumped into a rush, took a feed from Leon Draisaitl and buried a shot from the high slot for his first goal of the series. Connor McDavid collected one goal and two assists for the Oilers, and goaltender Mike Smith made 30 saves.
Sean Durzi and Carl Grundstrom scored for the Kings, who received a 33-save performance from goalie Jonathan Quick.
–Field Level Media
